Lading brace for freight cars



March 16, 1948.

I J. P. MURPHY JR LADING BRACEFOR FREIGHT CARS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Sept. 27, 1944 2 g. )39 INVENTOR. )3? k/bhni fluyfzy, r,

March 16, 1948. J, MURPHY, JR 2,437,832

LADING BRACE FOR FREIGHT CARS Filed Sept. 27, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

BY r} au- Mi-MMM Patented Mar. 16, 1948 LINHTED STATES PATENT OFFICE LADING BRAOE FOR FREIGHT CARS John P. Murphy, Jr., Chicago, Ill. Application September 27, 1944, Serial No. 555,918

3 Claims.

This invention relates to lading braces for freight cars, which braces are particularly adapted to prevent shifting of the lading in freight cars during shipment.

It is general practice in freight car loading, particularly when the lading of the car is made up of relatively small articles, boxes, crates, skids and the like, to load the ends of the car and have a passageway between the doors on the opposite sides of the car for access to the car in loading and unloading. The bumping, jerking and vibration of the cars in service have a tendency to shift the lading, causing it to slide or fall into the pasageway if it is not supported, and often causing undesirable damage.

To prevent such shifting of the lading and the possibility of attendant damage, it has been the practice to nail wooden supports and braces into the car. In addition to the time required to install such supports and the expense of the lumoer used, the nailing and removal cause a cumulative damage to the interior of the car.

It is understood, also, that some rather complicated and elaborate gates have been devised for installation in freight cars to support and prevent shifting of lading. The cost and complicated nature of such gates which is brought about by the necessity of varying the positions longitudinally of the car to accommodate each load has apparently prevented their general acceptance.

It is, therefore, a general object of this invention to provide a lading brace for freight cars a which may be permanently installed in a freight car at a reasonable cost, and which is easily put in operative position and adjusted to the load.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lading brace for repeated use which is simple in structure and operation and can be folded to an out-of-the-way position, and secured in such position, during loading of the car or when not needed.

This invention has for an additional object the provision of a durable lading brace which is quiickly and easily adjusted vertically and longitudinally of the car to accommodate various loads, and which is a permanent fixture of the car.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings in which similar characters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings of which there are two sheets,

Figures 1 and 2 are, respectively, side and end sectional views showing the adaptation of a preferred embodiment of the-invention to a box car; in which views the sections are taken substantially on lines l-l of Fig. 2 and 2-2 of Fig. 1, respectively;

Figs. 3 and 4 are, respectively, side and end sectional views showing a modified form of the invention in its application to a box car, in which views the sections are taken substantially on the lines 3--3 of Fig. 4 and 44 of Fig. 3, respectively; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view illustrating a modification of a portion of the structure adaptable to either of illustrated forms of the invention.

Referring to the exemplary embodiments of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, the box car is indicated somewhat diagrammatically and has a floor Ill, sides l2 and i3 and a roof Hi. In the usual freight car construction the sides l2 and I3 have oppositely disposed door openings l5 and [6 which are adapted to be closed by sliding doors I! and I8, respectively. The roof of the car slopes to the sides from a longitudinal ridge pole l8.

Having reference to the preferred form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, hanger poles 2b and 2i extend transversely across the interior of the car near the car roof and preferably near the sides of the opposite door openings. The ends of the hanger poles are secured to the opposite sides I2 and I3 of the car by flanged supporting rings, such as 22 and 23, or other suitable means. Swingably suspended at one end from each hanger pole is a pair of extensible hangers 25 and 26, which hangers comprise telescopically connected tubular hanger members 21 and 28 and hanger rods 29 and 30, respectively. The upper ends of the tubular hanger members are sup ported by connections to rings 32 and 33 rotatable on the hanger poles. The hanger rods 29 and 30 are slidable in the tubular hanger members 21 and 28, respectively, so that the hangers may be adjusted to a desired length, at which the tubular hanger members and hanger rods are secured in fixed relation by means such as pins 34 and 35 which extend through aligned apertures in the hanger parts.

Beams 36 and 31, which are desirably of the channel type, extend transversely across the interior of the car and are each suspended by a pair of hangers 25 and 26; the lower ends of the hanger rods 29 and 30 being rotatably connected to one of the beams through suitable brackets 38 and 39.

A pair of arms 40 and 4| have their ends secured in transversely spaced relation to the beam 31, while a similar pair of arms 43 and 44 have their ends secured in transversely spaced relation to the beam 36. These arms are desirably set in from the ends of their respective beams and project in opposite directions in positions such that the arms secured to one of the beams normally overlap adjacent arms extending from the other beam. :The arms each have a series of spaced apertures, such as 45, which may 'be aligned in various positions for the connections of the arms in adjusted positions by means such as pins 46 and 41. When the arms are'thusic'onnected, the beams and the arms together form,

a substantially rigid frame, the longitudinal dimension of which may be'determin'ed by the selection of the position at which the overlapping arms are connected.

In use, the substantially rigid frame formed by the beams '36 and: 31,:and-the connected arms, provides a brace forfsupportingthlading which is disposed in the oppositefends of' thecar. In some 'instancesythe beams 36-and 31 may directly abut the lading while in other instances, such as thosein which the. lading comprises stacks bf small articles,'-the beams' mayi support suitable gates J or timbers. In any instance, :theseparation of the beams" Which-determines the longitudinal dimension 'of thesupport frame is :adjusted to abut the lading on the oppositeis'ides of the door opening and "issecured in the adjustedposition by the' pins 46 'and 4?.

In order to secure 'the -most ife'ctive support from the lading brace for a particular height of 4 similar to those of the form illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

The folding or swinging of the lading brace shown in Figs. 3 and 4 to an out-of-the-way position adjacent the roof of the car is somewhat differently accomplished than that of the previously described form. The hangers 25 and 26 are adjusted to a length such that the beams andtheir respective projecting arms assume positions suchas that illustrated in dotted lines at 37c and 44a in Fig. 3, from which the hangers may be swung upwardly to the positions indicated in dotted lines at 26d, in which latter po- Jsitionthe beams 36 and 37 are engaged by hooks 53 and 5.4, respectively, hung from the ridge pole "laof'thecar to hold those beams in the positionsindicated at 35d and 37d. Also, in the out- 56; areplaced in apertures in load, 'the'verti'cal position-of the frameis -determined by adjustment of the 'length of the extenslble hangers 25 and '25.

During loading 'andunloading of thec'ar, and when the ladingbrace isnot 'in use, the parts may be swung to. an out-of-the-way'position adjacent the roof of the car. To accomplish the swinging of the'partsofthe brace to the Out-of-the-way position, the extensible hangers are adj-usted' to a length which permitsthe-rotationof-thebeama and their connected arms with respect-to the hangers to positions, such as that indicated in dot and dash lines in Fig. lat 31a and 44a. When rotated to this pos'itiom-the"ends of 1 the respective projecting armspassunderithe hangerpol'es- 20' and '2l. After the hanger' poles have thus been passed by the endsof the arms,the' hangers are adjusted to shorten lengths andswing upwardly to the positions-adjacent the car roof indicatedin dotted linesat 25b. "Inithis positi'on a hook l3 suspended from-the ridge pole-'l9 of the'car engages the-beams 36 and- BT-to" hold these beams in the positions indicated by the dotted lines a at 35b and 31b, respectively. To

provide additional support for maintaining the 1 projecting arms in'the'positionsindicated in dotted lines at-dlb and Mbghblding means such as pins 49 and 50.areplaced in apertures 'in the arms and rest against the-' adjacent ha'ngers.

in the modified" form of Ja'ding support il-lustrated 1 in Figs. 3 and 4; the construction 'ofthe rigid frame and the respective-hangersisgenerally similar to 'that"described in connection with the form of the' inv'ention illustrated in' Figs. 1 and- 2, except a single hanger pole 52 located-near-the more: the car and substantially *iriidway' between the sides'of the door openings. Theuse and various adjustments of 'thesubstantially rigid frame; and the hangers by which it is that the hangers are':hung from suspended; are" also of-the-way position means such as pins 55 and the projecting arms to rest against the hangers 25 and 26, and thereby to support-those arms.

'As illustrated in Fig. 5, the projecting arms may be secured togetherbya separate member, such as a channel strip 58, whichstraddles the adjacent arms and has a series of apertures 59 through which suitable fastening elements, such as-pins ifi and'fl, may extend to secure the arms at desiredpositions. Theuse of such additional-channel 'strips' is particularly desirable whena lon'gitudinal dimensionof the frame is d-esired which' is greater than can be obtained with the arms overlapping.

Front the foregoing description it may be understood thatthelading braces which have been illustrated and described provide effective rigid frames for bracing thelading at the ends of the can and-maintaining a clear space between the door openings forloading and unloading. The frame; in addition to being adjustable longitudinally for-adaptation to various loads,'is also adjustablewer'tically to an effective position for accommodating the desired bracing of a particular load. During loading and unloading and when 'the -frames-are-not'-in use, "they may be folded toan out-of-the way position adjacent the roof of the car, from which position they maybe easily swung to operative positions and adjusted to 'suit a'particularload.

While I' have illustrated apreferred embodiment 'ofmy invention, many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention,- and I-do not'wish to be limited to the d'etails of construction setforth, but desire to avai1 myselfof all changes within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention,'what I claim asnew anddesire to secure by Letters Patent 'of the'United States is:

' 1.A lading brace for usein freight carshaving-a floor, sides and dooropeningsin the sides, and comprising, in combinatioma pair of beams extending practically across the car in separated and substantially' parallel relation near the door openings, apair ofiarms secured attheir ends to each'ofth'e beams, each pair of arms being spaced apart and projecting from one beam toward the other longitudinally of the car; means for adjustably connecting the arms of. one pair to'the-arms'of 'theother in a'mann'er such that saidbeams and'said' arms form a substantially rigid frame: 'of adjustable longitudinal extent when in operative bracing"position, pairs of hangers, means for ipivotallyfconnecting' an end off eachbf .thei'hangersi'ofeachjpair to one of 'thebeams,' means fixedln position forrotatably supporting the other ends of the hangers near the top of the car, and means for adjusting the lengths of said hangers for determining the distance of the frame from the floor of the car, said arms, when disconnected, being swingable to positions of substantial parallelism adjacent the hangers, means for holding said arms adjacent the hangers, said hangers, together with the arms, being swingable to an out-of-the-way position near the top of the car, and hook means secured to the top of the car and releasably engageable with said beams for holding the hangers and arms in said out-of-the-way position.

2. A lading brace for use in freight cars having a floor, sides and door openings in the sides, and comprising, in combination, a pair of beams extending practically across the car in separated and substantially parallel relation near the door openings, a pair of arms secured at their ends to each of the beams, each pair of arms being spaced apart and projecting from one beam toward the other longitudinally of the car, means for adjustably connecting the arms of one pair to the arms of the other in a manner such that said beams and said arms form a substantially rigid frame of adjustable longitudinal extent when in operative bracing position, pairs of hangers, means for pivotally connecting an end of each of the hangers of each pair to one of the beams, means fixed in position for rotatably supporting the other ends of the hangers near the top of the car, and means for adjusting the lengths of said hangers for determining the distance of the frame from the floor of the car, said arms, when disconnected, being swingable to positions of substantial parallelism adjacent the hangers, means for holding said arms adjacent the hangers, and said hangers, together with the arms, being swingable in opposite directions to an out-of-the-way position intermediate the doors and near the top of the ear, and means for holding said hangers and arms in said out-ofthe-Way position.

3. A lading brace for use in a freight car having a floor, sides and top and comprising, in combination, a pair of hanger poles extending across the car in substantially parallel relationship to the car floor and secured to the car near the top, said hanger poles being separated longitudinally of the car, a pair of extensible hangers hung intermediate the ends of each of the hanger poles, a beam pivotally connected to the hanging ends of each pair of hangers, a pair of arms rigidly secured at their ends to each of the beams and projecting therefrom in directions longitudinal of the car, and means for adjustably connecting the arms of said pairs together in a manner such that said beams and said arms form a substantially rigid frame of adjustable longitudinal size suspended from the hanger poles at a level dependent upon the extension of said hangers when in an operative position, said arms, when disconnected, being swingable to positions lying along the inner surfaces of said hangers, and said hangers then being swingable toward one another to positions adjacent. and extending longitudinally of the top of the car, and means at the top of the car for holding said hangers in the last mentioned position.

JOHN P. MURPHY, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,665,439 Brown Apr. 10, 1928 1,833,016 Chandler Nov. 24, 1931 1,846,757 Rodgers Feb. 23, 1932 40 1,970,610 McMullen et a1. Aug. 21, 1934 2,177,525 Henderson Oct. 24, 1939 

